Research in the Social Inference Lab focuses on the following topics: (1) perspective taking, empathy, and mental-state reasoning; (2) cognitive processes in social attention, categorization, evaluation, inference, and judgment; and (3) stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination.
In a primary line of research, we study perspective taking and its implications for negotiating socially diverse environments. We explore how perceiver-based factors (e.g., incidental emotions), target-based factors (e.g., social group membership), and contextual factors (e.g., time pressure) shape the ability to intuit what other people see, believe, and like. We also examine how actively considering others' thoughts and feelings affects the subtle biases that commonly pervade intergroup encounters and social inference more generally.
In another line of research, we study how spontaneously activated mental processes (often in conjunction with more deliberately enacted ones) guide people's impressions of others. We're particularly interested in how a greater understanding of these processes can inform important social issues, such as covert expressions of intergroup bias and diversity management.
In a primary line of research, we study perspective taking and its implications for negotiating socially diverse environments. We explore how perceiver-based factors (e.g., incidental emotions), target-based factors (e.g., social group membership), and contextual factors (e.g., time pressure) shape the ability to intuit what other people see, believe, and like. We also examine how actively considering others' thoughts and feelings affects the subtle biases that commonly pervade intergroup encounters and social inference more generally.
In another line of research, we study how spontaneously activated mental processes (often in conjunction with more deliberately enacted ones) guide people's impressions of others. We're particularly interested in how a greater understanding of these processes can inform important social issues, such as covert expressions of intergroup bias and diversity management.